


Love Me Tender

by dragonflythemuse



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Blood, Gore, M/M, Violence, drug mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 13:49:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonflythemuse/pseuds/dragonflythemuse
Summary: Jeremiah nearly dies in the process of completing a mission for the Railroad and he passes our in front of the church. Deacon knows where to take him and waits patiently for his recovery.





	Love Me Tender

Jeremiah was in immense pain. He almost felt nothing because of his arm. He couldn’t move it. He couldn’t feel it. He was in so much pain, that every step towards the North Church was agonizing and dreadful. 

Fighting a courser was hard. But it had to be done for the Railroad. He wanted to make them proud. And while he won, he was scared he wouldn’t survive the fight. He didn’t want to see everything he had done go away like that. Lately, he had been feeling pretty good about all his progress. He helped clean up Sanctuary and made it an actual decent living space. He was helping the railroad and runaway synths escape to safety. He was doing so much! 

But, it turned out this would be his final work. He managed to haul himself to the church but he didn’t want to go inside because of how much blood he was taking with him. But he really needed the help. He took a ragged and raspy breath. He decided to lie on the steps to the door, hoping someone would notice him. He wouldn’t want to overthrow the Railroad by leading someone to the base with his blood. 

However, it didn’t take long for an agent to find him. 

“Oh God, Cloud, is that you?”

By this point, blood was starting to pool around him. 

“Yeah. I finished the mission. I didn’t want to go inside and track blood you know? The church is nice, I didn’t want to get it dirty.”

The agent looked extremely worried. Jeremiah appeared to be on the brink of death. 

“Let me get Carrington, don’t move.”

Jeremiah nodded, seeing as he couldn’t really move. It took a few moments before the agent returned with Carrington and another agent. And Deacon.

“Holy shit, Cloudy!” Deacon exclaimed. “Oh my god, did that raider hurt you like this?”

Jeremiah nodded but pulled the clean tracker he had gotten from the courser from his duffle bag. 

“Mission complete,” he said, before totally blacking out.

~~~

“Jeremiah,” said Deacon panicked. “Jeremiah! Fuck, Doc!”

 

“I’m right here, don’t yell!” Carrington quickly got down to look over Jeremiah’s wounds while the tracker was handed to the agent who initially spotted him.

“These are severe. I don’t have the supplies or the equipment to heal him. He’s going to die.”

“No, no way, no FUCKING way, there has to be something we can do.”

“Well, if you have any bright ideas, being your charming self, please share! There’s no way we can properly patch him up. At the very least, he needs an amputation and I don’t have that kind of medicine OR equipment.”

Deacon cursed and rubbed his face. Then he remembered. Jeremiah’s favorite clean space.

“Vault 81. We can take him to Vault 81. They have pre-war medicine there!”

“Deacon, that’s a smart idea, but do you know how far away Vault 81 is from here? We have to travel across the entire Commonwealth, while also somehow dodging super mutants, raiders, Gunners, and who knows what else. And not only that, we would be hauling Jeremiah with us, who can hardly move as it is.”

The other agent spoke up. 

“If there’s a lot of us with him, maybe we can make it out. We can stop in Goodneighbor and grab some supplies and rest up.”

“That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure if Jeremiah has that much time. If things get too risky, then fine.”

“So we’re going to Vault 81?” asked Deacon hopefully.

“As much as I don’t want to, yes, we are.”

Deacon grinned and gently touched Jeremiah’s hand. Doctor Carrington pretended like he didn’t notice. For a while, he had seen how close those two had gotten to each other. Deacon would always look at him with that puppy face, and it was different than the way he looked at every other agent. And Jeremiah was more tolerant of Deacon than anyone else, so that was a key reason for his reasoning that they were an item. But he pushed that thought away.

“Someone stay with him. I’m going to grab supplies.”

The agent nodded and pushed Deacon to get supplies. 

~~~

Doctor Carrington continued to curse and groan. He had no idea why he signed up to help Deacon haul his crippled boyfriend across the Commonwealth, but he supposed it would be for the best. Desdemona would probably have told him to go anyway, considering she LOVED her new favorite agent. He rolled his eyes. This was the most pointless task he was assigned. 

Thankfully though, Deacon volunteered to carry the gigantic doofus on his back, so it made the trip slightly easier for him. He just had to make sure Jeremiah wasn’t losing too much blood. The agent who tagged along, who was happy enough to be called Clover, was behind Deacon and Jeremiah, making sure they didn’t separate or slow down. 

It was going to be a long and grievous process, but it was one that would be worth it to Deacon. 

Doctor Carrington grew more and more anxious as he noticed skulls painted on the buildings. 

“We’re approaching Gunners. There’s no other way around, we’re going to have to through.”

“Over our dead body.”

After that, about five Gunners appeared from behind barricades with guns in their hands. They meant business. Doctor Carrington raised his hands.

“Look. We don’t want to bother you. Our friend here is extremely injured. We’re just trying to get to Diamond City so we can get him patched up. We checked our maps and this was the only way from where we were. You can lead us out and we’ll go. Okay?”

One of the men in the back stood. 

“Fine. Any funny business and we’ll make sure none of you leave.”

“Fair.”

A few Gunners have gotten behind the group and they were rushed through the other side of the Gunner base.

“Now go. Get out before we shoot you all in the head.”

“Thank you,” said Doctor Carrington before quickly urging everyone away. 

“How did you manage to do that Doc?” asked Deacon, in a snide manner.

“Deacon, not everyone can get away with fitting in as well as you, so sometimes you have to improvise.”

Deacon smiled at that. They hurried off past the Gunner camp in almost no time.

~~~

After a whole day and a half of walking with no rest, the gang had made it to the vault, climbing up the slope to walk inside. Deacon was grateful to get inside, as he could feel the chill breeze against his back, where his shirt had soaked up a lot of blood. 

“Let me go first, they’ll recognize me,” said Deacon.

Deacon walked inside and he called out for help.

“Hey, Jeremiah’s hurt! We really need your help!”

The entry guards began to panic. 

“This way, let’s get him to Dr. Forsythe.”

Deacon carried Jeremiah to the elevator and down to the bottom floor to the medical bay. Doctor Forsythe gasped.

“Deacon, what happened to him?”

“He got in a nasty fight. Found him in an old church, barely alive. His left arm is really fucked up.”

Doctor Carrington made an appearance to speak.

“I’ve evaluated him, and he’s got a lot of cuts and bruises. The tissues in his arm appear to have a lot of damage, but I haven’t been able to get a good look at those. He can’t move it, so I can only imagine it’s too damaged for him to heal. Meaning amputation.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go. He is alive right?”

“He’s alive. I’ve felt his breath on my neck the entire way.”

“Good. Get him on the table and we’ll get him out as quickly as possible.”

Deacon, along with the help of Clover, got Jeremiah onto the table, and he heard him groan.

“I know Cloudy, it’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll be here okay? I won’t leave.”

And with that, Jeremiah was taken into the quarantine room to be healed.

One of the guards who had helped get them down looked over Deacon.

“You might want to get washed up. You’re covered in blood.”

Deacon looked down at his clothes and he nodded. 

“Yeah. I will. Thanks.”

As Deacon walked off to the lavatory, Carrington noticed how emotionally compromised he was. He was usually bright and eager to please, but now he was just blank. He was a little worried about him.

“Deacon, wait.”

The agent turned and faced Carrington.

“Jeremiah will be okay. I won’t leave here until I know he’s okay too.”

Deacon managed to pull a fake smile before he turned and continued to walk away.

~~~

Deacon was facing the water in the shower as his mind was racing. Racing with mostly worst-case scenarios on how Jeremiah could face his doom. He really wanted Jeremiah to be okay. He loved him, even though he never admitted it. And now that he was worried he’d lose Jeremiah, he realized he should have. 

He sighed as he let the water run down his scalp and off his eyelashes. He rubbed his face and turned off the water, reaching for a towel. He didn’t look at who entered the lavatory. All he wanted to do was go to bed and sleep. Wake up from the nightmare he was in. 

“Are you doing alright?”

It was Carrington. Figures. He always hovered around Deacon in these times. Making sure he was okay, and all that.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I just want to lie down and sleep.”

The doctor nodded as Deacon dried himself off and pulled on clean briefs. 

“I’m just worried about him.”

“Why?”

“Because. He’s young and he has a lot going for him. Deep inside, he’s a really good kid. Helped clean up Sanctuary Hills, and he’s doing really good in the Railroad. He’s just dealing with trauma constantly. He had a fucked up life before the war.”

“Is that why you vouched for him when Des was interrogating him? And why you’re vouching for him now?”

“Yeah. Always. I watched him crawl out of the vault. It was heart-wrenching. I have never seen anyone so hysterical or in pain. Not as much as him. He deserves to have someone vouch for him.”

“You’re such a good person, Deacon.”

“Maybe. I just care about him.”

Carrington leaned on the door frame. There was more to it than that. He knew it because of how Deacon was making sure he didn’t show his eyes.

“You love him.”

Deacon froze. He didn’t say anything for awhile. That gave Carrington his answer.

“Yeah. I love him.” 

“It’s really obvious. Why hide it and not say anything.”

“I don’t know. We just haven’t acted upon it yet I guess. I think he loves me too, but he always says he doesn’t know what it means, so he won’t.”

“For a kid as dumb as he is, that’s pretty wise.”

Deacon laughed. “Yeah.”

He pulled on a vault suit that he owned and he took a breath as he zipped it up and put his boots on. 

“Are they done with him?”

“No. Not yet. I don’t think they’ve even amputated his arm yet.”

Deacon winced at that sentence. He already knew how bad this would be for Jeremiah. He didn’t want him to suffer but it seemed as though he would have no choice. Jeremiah would have to suffer  
for the time being. 

Deacon sighed and put his sunglasses on. 

“Do you want to come back to HQ with me?” Carrington asked. “Desdemona would want to make sure you and Jeremiah are okay.”

“I told him I wouldn’t leave.”

“Deacon, he probably won’t be able to leave the medical bay for more than a week. He’s going to be in a medically induced coma or in so much pain that he can’t notice anything. That’s something you’ll have to let go.”

“Look, Doc, I know I’m supposed to be the best, but Jeremiah is the best of me, and I don’t really want to leave until I know he’ll be okay. He means so much to me, and I’ll be damned if he dies.”  
At that last breath, Deacon got hit with the realization that Jeremiah probably won’t survive this whole ordeal. He immediately sat down and began to cry, tears falling from behind his glasses. He put a hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from anyone who would be watching.

“I never got to tell the idiot how much I love him and how much he means to me.” 

He took in a deep breath to try to calm down but it just led to him sobbing more. His hands rubbed his eyes under his glasses and he didn’t even care when he heard them clatter on the tile. He just kept crying and struggling to compose himself. 

After a minute or two, he managed to calm down, and he wiped the tears from his eyes. 

“I’m probably going to stick around here and do some work for the vault until Jeremiah’s better.”

Carrington nodded. He understood that.

“Fine. If you need anything, you’ll have to come back home. I’ll tell Des you’re okay.”

Deacon nodded and stood, carrying his dirty clothes back to Jeremiah’s room where he put them in a pile. He would probably try to clean them while Jeremiah was out. 

“Bye Deacon,” spoke Clover before she hopped away with Doc. He waved carelessly. He sighed and decided to get to work to keep himself occupied. 

~~~ 

After the amputation was complete, Doctor Forsythe had tried to find Deacon. It was really hard considering he was doing maintenance so he often disappeared from certain parts of the vault. He  
eventually found him in the cafeteria.

“He’s stable at the moment, but he’s in critical condition,” he spoke as he sat across from Deacon. “He’ll need to rest for about a month and then go through some rehab to learn how to survive out in the wastes with one arm. He has some major bullet wounds to his stomach, and a gash on his chest, but other than that, he’s okay. I have no idea how he made it out the way he did. However, I did some analysis and I found some sort of chemicals in his blood system. It somehow boosted his strength? I’m not sure how, but he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for that.”

Deacon should’ve guessed Jeremiah would take psycho to beat that courser. He rubbed his face. 

“If you want to see him, you can. He’ll be under a medically induced coma until we can keep him calm and the pain lessens. He might become hysteric.”

“Alright.”

Deacon didn’t say anything else. He just wanted to see Jeremiah and hold him and not let him go. 

He walked into the medical bay and covered his mouth when he saw how broken and defeated Jeremiah looked. He was bruised and he had cuts all over his body. He looked awful. 

Deacon pulled up a chair and sat next to his crippled partner. He watched as his chest was rising and falling slowly with shallow breaths. He hoped that none of these would be his last. He deserved a long life, and Deacon hated that it would be taken away from him.

He took his hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it. 

“I love you, you big idiot. Please don’t die on me.”

~~~

After a week of Deacon doing maintenance and going out to work with caravans and getting supplies for the vault, Jeremiah was finally able to get up and wander around the vault. He still looked tired and weary. He winced every time his arm moved and sometimes, he would try to grasp onto something with his left arm, and he stumbled when he realized there was nothing to grip with. 

Deacon was out of the vault, getting supplies when Jeremiah took his first few steps after the incident occurred. When he walked back in with a crate full of supplies, the entry guard told him about how Jeremiah was up and walking and he nearly sprinted to the elevator if it weren’t for the crate of supplies. He got down to the main floor, put the supplies down and he ran to the medical bay. Jeremiah was standing there, tall, lanky, shirtless body just… standing. He looked dazed and confused. When he saw Deacon, his eyes seemed to light up.

“Hey Deacon,” he said in a raspy voice.

“Cloudy!” Deacon approached Jeremiah and gave him a warm but gentle hug. Jeremiah was more than happy to accept it. “You look so much better.” Deacons rough hands began to slowly roam around the taller man’s torso, gently rubbing the hurt skin with his thumb. 

“I feel okay. My arm hurts and it just feels weird.” 

“Yeah? I’ll help you get better okay? We’ll get you back into your cheery self in no time.”

Jeremiah smiled at that and Deacon felt like he was falling in love all over again. He always felt warm in his presence, and the two were glad they had each other, even if they didn’t act on or speak those feelings.

Jeremiah sighed and leaned in once more into Deacon’s arms, wrapping his own arm around him and taking a breath. It was nice to feel appreciated. And Deacon appreciated everything he did, and that made him unreasonably happy. 

“Doc says I can go back to my room if I seem okay today,” Jeremiah said, not letting go of Deacon.

“Good. Wanna read and listen to the radio tonight?”

“Yeah. That would be great. I’m really hungry right now though.”

“Alright. Let’s get some grub and we can play some games or something.”

Jeremiah nodded and let Deacon take his hand as they slowly made their way to the cafeteria. After sitting at a table sharing a pie together, Jeremiah proudly listened to the work that Deacon had done over the week he was in the medical bay. 

“You’ve done so much since I was out, huh?”

“Mhm. I’ve just been waiting for you is all.”

Jeremiah smiled as he took a bite of the pie. 

“That’s nice to hear. That somebody has the patience to wait for you. I don’t usually ever have anyone waiting for me but. I like having you around.”

Deacon took a bite as well. “I like having you around too. Don’t forget that. I’m always here for you.”

 

Jeremiah paused from eating and he couldn’t help but grin and let out a small laugh. It sent flutters through Deacon’s heart. “I know. I’m glad I have you around.”

The two men smiled as they kept eating. It was a therapeutic moment for Jeremiah. Deacon kept cracking jokes and his smooth voice was just… utterly calming. It was taking his mind off of the pain and the whole “I don’t have a left arm” situation. 

The two continued to sit for about an hour. They talked, had an honest to god conversation about each other. About them as a pair. Neither of them knew what it meant, but, they still talked.

“Hey Deacon. How do you feel like things are… between us?”

Deacon had to pause for a moment. He already had a million responses to that questions, most of which were more questions but he suddenly became fearful that he wouldn’t give the right answer.

“What do you mean?”

Jeremiah looked up at him. “I mean… how do you feel about us? Together. And not as a team for HQ but. As just us. ‘Cause, you know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately, especially when I was on the stairs in front the church, about how much you’re there for me, and how much you take care of me and…” Jeremiah didn’t look at Deacon. He looked down at his one hand. “You know, I just really appreciate all you do and that you’re willing to teach me and you tolerate me and all that. And I’ve been thinking about how much I… you know.”

“Know what?”

Jeremiah let out a poutish sigh. “Like… You know.”

“I really don’t.”

“I don’t know how to say it.”

He got a little self-conscious when people started looking at him. Then he really didn’t want to say it. 

“Wanna take this somewhere private?”

“Yes please.”

Deacon nodded and smiled, helping clean up the dishes real quick before helping Jeremiah up the stairs to his bedroom. And soon, they ended up together, sitting carefully on the bed with the door  
closed and the curtains drawn. 

“So,” Deacon said, “what’s up?”

“I uh… I don’t know… Can we just read and listen to the radio?”

Deacon sighed patiently. “Sure.”

He took off his sunglasses and he dimmed the lights. The fluorescent lights in the vault were quite bright, and they honestly gave him a headache. He couldn’t imagine it would be good for Jeremiah in his condition either, so he was sure he appreciated it. Once he was in more comfortable clothes with a book in his hand, he turned to see Jeremiah lying comfortably in bed on his right side. His pants were already thrown messily and lazily across the floor.

“Come on man,” said Deacon. “You can’t keep tidy?”

“I lost an arm.”

“That’s no excuse, Jerry.”

“Are you going to do anything about it?”

“Don’t suppose I can.”

Deacon smiled and sat in bed next to him. He propped a pillow up and settled down comfortably as he propped the book open. He quickly got into character and read aloud. Every now and then, he’d pause for Jeremiah’s brain to absorb the information, and he’d let him ask questions. Sometimes, Jeremiah would want to read, and Deacon would let him stumble over the words and wait for help. It was always good times to read with him, even if Jeremiah was really slow. 

They finished a chapter together and it was then Deacon noticed how close Jeremiah was. He had his forehead on his shoulder and every now and then he’d nuzzle him gently. It was ridiculously cute. 

“Wanna listen to the radio now?” Deacon asked. He heard Jeremiah’s hum of approval and he quickly turned the lights off. He turned on the radio and he crawled back in bed, comfortably adjusting his pillow.

Once he became still, Jeremiah instantly moved forward to press himself against Deacon. He took a sharp breath and and slowly wrapped his arms around him. As he closed his eyes, he listed as the radio switched from Sixty Minute Man to Love Me Tender. Deacon really like this song. So he began to sing as he listened.

“Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go. You have made my life complete, and I love you so.”

Jeremiah listened to Deacon sing and felt the rough fingers go through his hands. It was extremely calming. Deacon’s soothing voice made him melt into the mattress, happy and comfortable. 

“Love me tender, love me true, all my dreams fulfilled. For my darling, I love you, and I always will.”

Jeremiah kept sighing peacefully as he kept listening to the singing. This was the most relaxed he’s ever been. Even before the war, he’s never felt like this. He never had the warm arms of someone he loved -- at least he thought he loved him -- while lying in bed to just exist. 

He felt Deacon’s thumb trace his lips and he embraced the feeling. He was growing increasingly nervous, but it didn’t harshen his mellow mood. 

“For my darling, I love you, and I always will.”

Jeremiah stopped breathing when he felt Deacon’s lips press against his own. He didn’t expect his first kiss with a man he actually felt feelings for to be THIS romantic. Maybe that was a part of the whole thing? But he didn’t care. In the moment, the kiss was heavenly and it made Jeremiah’s heart melt. Is that what love felt like? Was he supposed to be feeling mushy and liquidy inside? 

Jeremiah felt himself be brought a little closer to Deacon and he moved his arm to touch Deacon’s face. After a sharp pain in his shoulder, he had to pull away, remembering he didn’t have an arm there anymore. 

Deacon smiled patiently. “Take it easy.” He lied back and he let Jeremiah curl up to him, feeling him sigh on his chest. 

“Deacon.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

That caught Deacon off guard.

“Do you know what that means?”

“Yeah.”

“Care to explain?” 

“You say that when you feel for someone. Like. You love them and they change your life for the better, and they do so much for you. You just love them. They do what you do.”

Deacon grinned in the dark. He pressed a gentle kiss on the top of Jeremiah’s head. 

“I love you too, Cloudy.”

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favourite old fics featuring Deacon and my oc Jeremiah.


End file.
